Domaine Collotte Marsannay Vieilles Vignes 2024

Domaine Collotte sits at Marsannay, on the southern outskirts of Dijon at the northern end of the Côte de Nuits. The family has been here since the 1800s and the domaine as it stands was established in 1981; Isabelle Collotte makes the wines today.

Marsannay is a young appellation for an old vineyard. It missed out when the first village appellations were handed down in 1930, not because the terroir was thought inferior but because very little Pinot Noir or Chardonnay was planted at the time, the growers having turned their attention to supplying the expanding city of Dijon. The village appellation was finally created in 1987. The underlying geology is the same complex Jurassic limestone that runs the length of the Côte d'Or.

Sixteen hectares are farmed, concentrated in the centre and south of Marsannay and at Couchey, with the lieu-dit parcels mostly above the village and the village and Bourgogne wines below, largely from Champ Forey. Boivins, Champsalomon, Clos de Jeu and Les Grasses Têtes are vinified separately, and there are holdings in Fixin, Gevrey-Chambertin and Chambolle-Musigny. Reds are fully de-stemmed, cold-soaked for a week at 10°C and fermented on natural yeasts, worked mainly by pumping over with punching down now kept to a minimum. Top reds see 25 per cent new oak, and larger formats are increasingly used for part of both the reds and whites. The estate is certified HVE3 and makes about 8,500 dozen a year. The rosé, made from Pinot Noir, is a Marsannay speciality and among the best anywhere.